New York Mets mid season review

Finally the New York Mets are playing to their potential. They sit in second place 1.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves with a 44-34 record. They did struggle through out the month May going 12-17 in that month, but rebounded in June with an 18-8 record. They have beaten up on the teams on the American League teams compiling a 13-5 record in interleague play. The impressive number there is they went 2-1 versus the Minnesota Twins, and split the six games with their town rivals the New York Yankees.

As an offensive unit the Mets team batting average is .261, and that is the fourth best mark among the 16 senior circuit clubs. They have collected 686 hits, 140 of which were doubles. They have added 21 triples and 65 home runs. They have knocked in 344 runs and scored 361 total runs. They have stolen 75 bases to lead the NL in that category. The lowest batting average of their regular starters is the .244 of Catcher Rob Barajas.

It seems that the real story of the Mets pitching staff is emerging ace Mike Pelfrey. Last year he led the team in starts and innings pitched. In 2010 he is 10-2 with a 2.93 ERA. The staff era as a whole is 3.84, and that is the fifth best NL staff ERA. They have given up 312 runs, while striking out 561 batters and issuing 299 walks. Their closer, Francisco Rodriguez, has a 2-1 record with a 2.01 ERA and have converted 18 saves.

The big questions facing this club prior to the start of the season were if Jason By was the answer to the great power outage, and if Oliver Perez could bounce back and contribute to this team. Bay is hitting .275 with six home runs and 36 RBI. So he seems to be producing. Perez on the other hand is 0-3 with a 6.28 ERA. Since the team owes him 24 million dollars over the balance of 2010 and 2011, that simply will not do. He currently finds himself on the 15 day disabled list.

Related Links:

•New York Mets news and notes
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com